The hobbit is a fantasy novel by Tolkien, published in 1937. This is the first book that is followed by a few more novels, set in Middle Earth, such as Lord of the Rings.

It is published as a children’s bed time story, but I’m sure the real fans are much older. It is written in the form of an epic quest that follows Bilbo Baggins’ first adventure. The book was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and won a prize from the New York Herald Tribune.

To this day, the book still remains popular and is considered a children’s classic.

Short summary

As I mentioned, the story follows Bilbo Baggins’ journey to the Lonely Mountain. He is a hobbit, a fictional, diminutive, humanoid creature, and lives in a hole in Shire. He lives a peaceful life, but everything changes when Gandalf, a great wizard, pays him a visit. He makes him an offer to go on an adventure, which Bilbo, used to his lifestyle, does not accept.

Some time later he is visited by a number of dwarfs and Bilbo realizes that he was tricked by Gandalf into throwing this “party”. The dwarfs start telling him about their lost home in the Lonely Mountains, the dragon who chased them away, and their plan to take it back. The only thing they need now is a burglar who can open the back door of their home. And yes, that burglar is Bilbo.

He refuses the offer again, but in the morning he changes his mind and he goes on an adventure.

The rest of the story is their long and hard journey, their confrontation with Smaug, the dragon, and the way back.

I love Tolkien’s work on Middle Earth. It’s very detailed, written really good and it has a certain dose of humor. This is not just a children’s book, this is something that everyone has to read.

The book was made into three movies, directed by Peter Jackson. The main characters are played by Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom… If you are asking me, three movies were too much for this book since there were parts and characters that don’t even exist in the book. All just to fill the three hours of the movies.